More Funding for Royal Town Schools!

I am delighted to announce that four schools in the Royal Town - Bishop Walsh Catholic School, Little Sutton Primary School, Sutton Park Primary and Walmley Infant school - have been selected to be rebuilt or substantially refurbished as part of the fourth round of the Government’s School Rebuilding Programme.

The School Rebuilding Programme was announced in June 2020 and will rebuild or refurbish 500 schools over the next decade. The objective is to tackle buildings in the poorest condition to create safe and modern buildings where young people can gain the knowledge and skills they need to excel.

Each school in the programme has been selected based on the condition of its buildings, making sure the greatest improvements are delivered for schools that need them the most and maximising children’s chances to gain the skills and knowledge they need.

The funding for these Sutton Coldfield schools will help to deliver state of the art learning environments for pupils, such as new classrooms, science labs, sports halls, and dining halls. The majority of the projects are set to be completed in three to five years

New buildings will harness modern technologies to be net-zero carbon in operation, supporting sustainability. As well as benefitting the education of hundreds of thousands of children, these building projects will also benefit the construction sector by providing opportunities across the industry, including for small and medium-sized enterprises. The exact scope of the projects at each school will be determined through detailed feasibility studies at the outset of each project.

The quality of facilities in schools can have a significant impact on a student’s learning and I have been working closely with local schools and the Government to secure the investment that will offer children the best opportunity to achieve their full potential and succeed.

Sign Up to Help Out at Boldmere St Michael’s Football Club

Last weekend I visited the ‘Mikes’ to hear about their need for match day volunteers to help out on home-game Saturdays. During my meeting with Chairman Rob Mallaband and Director Rob Cash, we talked about the huge part volunteering plays in non-league football and its increasing importance today as many clubs feel the post-Covid financial bite.

In response to these challenges and as part of a wider programme to expand non-league football, the league’s sponsor, Pitching In, has created a volunteer hub where people can sign up to help out. The innovative online portal aims to be a one-stop-shop which connects football fans and potential volunteers.

The club is using the portal to advertise a range of volunteering positions. They are looking for stewards, videographers, announcers, kitmen and meet and greet people to assist them on match days.

If any constituents can pitch in a few hours, you’d be in brilliant hands and the club would greatly appreciate it!

You can register as a volunteer on the Pitching In volunteer hub here: www.pitchinginvolunteers.co.uk

Cash Boost for Royal Town Charities

Good news that two Sutton Coldfield-based charities, Food4U foodbank and Hope Food North Birmingham have been selected to receive £1000 each from the National Grid to help support their operations this Winter, as part of the Community Matters Fund Christmas Community Giving Campaign.

These brilliant local charities support a number of vulnerable households across the Royal Town so these funds are a very welcome boost at this time of year. I will be visiting the Food4u foodbank next week on my pre-Christmas tour of the Royal Town on Thursday 22 December to say thank you for all that they are doing.

I will be meeting the Royal Town’s local National Grid team in the New Year to hear more about their local operations and investment plans for the future.

Primary Care Update

Across the country the issue of securing swift access to GP appointments has been challenging, but there is progress. It is essential that residents get the care they require in a timely manner. I know how hard our brilliant GPs and other practice staff are working daily to address access but there has been recognition that additional support is necessary to enable doctors to better respond to the demands they face.

Following meetings with officials from our NHS Trust, I am pleased that they have developed a short-term plan to make it easier for patients to access their GP; this means they can get through to the local surgery when they need to make an appointment, receive an appointment on the same day when appropriate, or within two weeks when it is non-urgent.

In his letter to me this week, Dr David Melbourne explained that they will achieve this through wide ranging measures such as reducing bureaucratic measures that have limited value, focusing on improving those areas that are most under pressure and introducing additional winter appointments.

This is a positive and welcome move to address the difficulties surgeries continue to face as a result of Covid, and I hope to update you on the progress of this in the New Year.

Car Theft Update

Further to my report last week, Councillor Alex Yip and I have had discussions with Mat Shaer (Birmingham East Chief Superintendent) specifically about car thefts in Wylde Green. Mat provided us with this update about actions being taken in Wylde Green and across the constituency:

“Operation Calibre Neighbourhood week of action commenced 12/12/22 and incorporates Wylde Green in the plans, including a joint approach later this week with Traffic and Drone department in order to tackle burglaries and vehicle crime. Indeed, we now have at least one dedicated vehicle crime operation running a day, in order to respond to the offending. These have been focused mainly within the Birmingham area and incorporates tackling offences within Wylde Green.

There is some background work ongoing seeking at securing a bid for ANPR cameras along the main arterial routes in and out of Wylde Green and Walmley.

The Vehicle Crime Taskforce that I have previously communicated about have continued to have operational successes. Last month, they arrested and charged two men we believe are responsible for no less than sixty two offences of vehicle theft. In addition to this, in the same month a large scale ‘chop shop’ in the Birmingham area was the subject of a court warrant, six people were arrested and charged with handling stolen goods, a premises closure order has been authorised by the court following a police application. Further work by the team on the back of this resulted in the execution of a warrant in East Birmingham where another linked chop shop was located today (13thDecember). A vehicle stolen from the Sutton area two days prior by means of a burglary, and about to be dismantled, was recovered.

Further to this, our Crime Reduction Team are currently supporting improvements in security at key locations across the West Midlands, which have been highlighted as hot spots for vehicle crime. This also involved the development of partnership working, with people, such as hotel chains and large retail outlet in order try and design out crime. This also extends to manufactures, in order to build strong relations to tackle the offending issues.

The force has also looked at innovative ways to help owners to safeguard their vehicles, this involved the use of targeted messaging via Instagram by ‘geo fencing’ dealerships of a vehicle type which was known to be vulnerable. This messaging provided key crime prevention messaging to those who were taking their vehicles in for servicing etc. This resulted in the messaging being read by over 46,000 people and following this, we could actively see reductions in offending in relation to that vehicle type.”

Urgent Question on British Council Contractors in Afghanistan

This week I responded to an Urgent Question on resettling in the UK contractors who worked for the British Council in Afghanistan. There is, rightly, concern for the wellbeing of those staffers and their families who are under threat from the Taliban for supporting Britain’s efforts in the country. Members of Parliament asked about the actions being taken to ensure these people’s safety. I stated that Britain is doing everything it can to expedite all applications to enable those eligible to start a new life in the UK as soon as possible.

You can read the full debate here: British Council Contractors: Afghanistan - Hansard - UK Parliament

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Questions

This week I also answered FCDO Questions in the House of Commons. Among the questions raised by MPs across the House was the issue of sovereign debt in Africa and strengthening democracy. You can read the full session here: Supporting Democracies - Hansard - UK Parliament

Visit to Ghana

I spent the latter part of this week in Ghana to see UK aid in action. As well as visiting schools and family planning projects I learned of the great strides Britain and Ghana are making on trade - at £1.4b and high levels of investment which creates jobs both here and there. We are hoping for mutually beneficial economic results here in the West Midlands too.

More Funding for Police Announced

Yesterday the government announced our police forces will receive investment of up to £287 million next year, delivering more visible policing in communities to cut crime and help victims feel safe.

Everyone should have the security that comes from having a safe street and safe home, wherever they live.

The police will also receive the funding they need to maintain the 20,000 additional police officers to be recruited by next year.

With over 15,000 additional officers already recruited and thousands more on the way, this package will support our forces to keep Sutton Coldfield and all local communities safe.

Train Strikes Reminder: Strike action set to ahead on 16 and 17 December, and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January, coordinated across other train companies and Network Rail, with the TSSA union also striking on Avanti West Coast on 16 and 17 December.

MHRC: Please see below the visits scheduled for the week commencing 19th December 2022 of the Council’s Mobile Household Recycling Centre:

• Mon 19/12/2022 Reay Nadin Drive B73 6UL Sutton Vesey
• Tue 20/12/2022 Plants Brook Road B76 1EX Sutton Walmley & Minworth

Reminder of Road Closures over Christmas: HS2 works will be carried out between Junctions 9 and 10 of the M42 from Friday 23 December until Tuesday 3 January. Anyone with questions regarding the closure can contact HS2 helpdesk on 08081 434434 or hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

Winter Games: